Washington Post: Männliche Opfer sexueller Gewalt befürchten, sie werden nicht ernst genommen

Die Washington Post steht derzeit in der Kritik, weil sie durch eine ausufernde Definition von sexueller Gewalt zur aktuellen Hysterie um dieses Thema beitrage. Immerhin thematisiert die Zeitng aber in einem aktuellen Artikel, wie sehr männliche Opfer bei dieser Debatte ausgeblendet werden:

For all the intensity, emotion and pervasiveness of the debate about sexual assault in college, there’s an element that’s often lost and unheard: men’s stories.

Though sexual assaults on men are rarely reported to authorities, a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll of current and recent college students found that 1 in 20 men said they were sexually assaulted while in school.

(...) In interviews with men who participated in the poll, they described a wide range of unwanted sexual experiences — some blurry, some violent, some confusing, some terrifying. Some joked about it or blamed themselves. Others are tortured by the memories.

(...) It’s very common for men to feel confused, ashamed and certain that no one will believe their accounts after they are sexually assaulted, said Jim Hopper, an expert on psychological trauma who is a consultant and part-time instructor in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Though counterintuitive, there can be a physical paradox that explains how men can get an erection even though they are emotionally unwilling to have sex, Hopper said.

“The physiology of how a penis responds to being grabbed can run in parallel with fear,” Hopper said. “Just because you’re terrified doesn’t mean you can’t have an erection.”

It’s rare that men do report an incident, he said. “Any experience of being dominated, overwhelmed, exploited, assaulted — especially sexually — whether by a male or a female is going to be something that males are programmed to not want to talk about,” he said.

Hier findet man den vollständigen Artikel mit der konkreten Schilderung mehrerer Fälle.